Brian Dutcher is the easy top candidate to replace Richard Pitino
If Richard Pitino is fired, and there's still an 'if' attached to it, Brian Dutcher is a far too easy candidate to be the next Gophers' men's basketball coach.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball team ended its regular season with a loss to Rutgers on Saturday. They have dropped seven straight games and 10 of their last 12. Unless they win the Big Ten Tournament, what once looked like a sure-fire NCAA Tournament bid will go away.
Head coach Richard Pitino will almost surely be fired, buyout considerations aside in this COVID-19 impacted environment. Then the focus can shift to who will replace him, and an interesting candidate has surfaced.
According to Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher has a $6.9 million buyout-unless he goes to Minnesota. Then it’s only $1 million. Zeigler referenced the exact line in Dutcher’s contract.
Because buried on the third page of coach Brian Dutcher’s 2020 contract extension, under item 6 (g), is this sentence:
Should Employee accept head coaching position at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, … the buyout obligation shall be $1 million.
For anyone else, it is $6.925 million.
Dutcher’s father, Jim, was the Gophers’ basketball coach from 1975-1986. His tenure included the last time Minnesota officially won the Big Ten in 1982.
Brian Dutcher spent many years under Steve Fisher at Michigan and San Diego State as the lead assistant. In four seasons as head coach at San Diego State, he has 93-30 record with three Mountain West titles (two regular season, one tournament). In 2019-20, the Aztecs went 30-2. They are 20-4 this year, with the second regular season MWC title under Dutcher.
Dutcher got a contract extension from San Diego State (through the 2025-26 season) last September, which made him the highest-paid coach in the Mountain West. He talked about the prospect of leaving for Minnesota, his alma mater.
“It’s my school,” Dutcher said, “where I went and was able to be part of that basketball program with my dad. But it’s still a buyout. It’s not like it’s free.”
Dutcher probably wouldn’t leave San Diego State for Minnesota based purely on more pay. But there’s no denying the highest salary in his new deal ($1.53 million in 2025-26) is not much more than half what Pitino makes ($2.46 million per year). Only three Big Ten coaches make less than Dutcher’s current average of $1.3 million per year.
Beyond his success at San Diego State, Dutcher obviously spent years in the Big Ten at Michigan. He was a key recruiter for the Wolverines (including the “Fab Five”) and the Aztecs (Kawhi Leonard). He has a lowered buyout, strictly tailored for him to take the job at Minnesota if it ever came open.
If Pitino is fired, or really once he’s fired, it doesn’t have to be hard. Dutcher is easily the top candidate to replace Pitino, far above the down-spout candidates that are convenient to tab. If the football coaching search that yielded P.J. Fleck is any indication, athletic director Mark Coyle already knows if Dutcher would take the job his dad once held.
Who do you think should replace Richard Pitino as Gophers’ men’s basketball coach? Tell me in the comment section. Also, please consider subscribing (it’s free right now) to get all of my content at All The Balls.